How donor-advised funds help charities stay afloat

You're no doubt familiar with donor-advised funds, especially if some of your donors use their donor-advised funds at the community foundation to support your organization. What you might not know is that the national average annual "pay-out rate" for all donor-advised funds is 18 percent, and most donor-advised funds make at least one grant per year. Furthermore, donor-advised funds help many individuals and families get involved in organized giving at a low barrier to entry. Indeed, nearly half of all donor-advised funds carry balances less than $50,000. To dive deeper into these and other insights, we suggest taking a look at the Donor Advised Fund Research Collaborative's recently-released study.

At the community foundation, we are committed to growing philanthropy, connecting donors to the causes they care about, and leading on critical community issues.

An important part of our mission is offering donors a wide range of ways to give to your organization and other charities that are most important to them. In many cases, establishing a donor-advised fund, field-of-interest fund, designated fund, or other type of fund at the community foundation helps a donor unlock assets for charitable purposes that would otherwise be difficult to tap. This is especially the case with highly-appreciated, noncash assets such as closely-held stock and real estate. We also make it easy for donors to structure long-term giving plans and bequests so that they can maximize their support for you and other favorite nonprofit organizations and involve their families, too.

Please reach out to us anytime if you'd like to learn more about the community foundation's mission to grow philanthropy for our entire region. 

This content is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.